‘What we do’ is the most extensive of the three chapters but the least weighty intellectually. This does not make it less significant than the ‘Who we are’ and ‘What we believe’ chapters. However, it is probably the most straightforward to teach at Key Stages 1—3 because much of the material deals with actions and is therefore very concrete. It focuses on Jewish practice, as the title suggests, and relates to food, time and space.

Time

Shabbat

Because of the centrality of Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), this is the largest sub-section in ‘Time’: it is further subdivided into introductory material on the concept of Shabbat as a day of rest and peace; the need to prepare for Shabbat; the phases of the day; and the closing ritual.

There are film clips of several Shabbat rituals and exercises to:

• sort actions and activities into ‘work’ and ‘not work’, from the Jewish point of view
• lay a virtual Shabbat table with all the necessary ritual objects
• create a family rota for Shabbat preparations
• produce digitally a cartoon strip to capture family conversations at a Friday evening supper table

Festivals—The Cycle of the Jewish Year

A simple ‘wheel’ on screen gives an overview of the Jewish year, with festivals matched to months and seasons.

Rosh HaShanah - For learning about this new year festival, there is an activity to design a greetings card digitally; and another—involving noisy fun—to blow a virtual shofar (ram’s horn), which is the key artefact of the Rosh HaShanah season. 

Yom Kippur -Concerning this Day for Atonement, there is material on confession, forgiveness and fasting. The main activity involves a writing frame, with a world field, for pupils to learn how to write a letter of apology.

Sukkot -Pupils can build a virtual sukkah (booth), constructed for this autumn harvest festival. There is also a thinking piece on homelessness and hospitality.

Simhat Torah - A custom at this festival in celebration of the Torah (teaching on scroll) involves members of the congregation carrying Torah scrolls in seven circuits and also dancing with the Torah scrolls. The Simhat Torah part of the CD-Rom effects this through rotating still images of people holding Torah scrolls, accompanied by recordings of songs that might typically be sung on this occasion. There is also a word square activity in which pupils manipulate vocabulary pertaining to the festival, the Torah scroll and the synagogue.

Hanukah - This winter festival that crystallises the power of spiritual light and the right of religion is primarily celebrated through the lighting of a special candelabrum—and pupils can light this hanukiyah digitally. They can also play the dreidl (a flat-sided spinning top for Hanukah) against the computer.

Purim - Though a minor festival, this is a major event for Jewish children and the fun of learning is especially prominent in this part of the CD-Rom. There is an exercise to sequence digitally the biblical story of Esther (on which the festival is based). Because Purim is a time for fancy dress, there is also a digital activity to dress a model in absurd and hilarious combination of clothes and accessories. Finally, pupils can create a virtual basket of goodies—similar to the ones that Jews make and give to one another at this time.

Pesah - One element of this intense and highly involved spring festival has a particular food discipline—the removal and avoidance of leaven, known as ‘hametz’. The CD-Rom features:

• a food sorting exercise ‘OK or not OK at Pesah?’
• a maze trail which acts as a hametz treasure hunt
• an activity to lay a virtual table for the seder (special Pesah supper) with the necessary artefacts
• an out-of-the-ordinary recipe to produce matzah (unleavened bread) against the clock, followed by pupils’ evaluation of their time-management and team work

Shavuot - The treatment of this summer festival is the briefest of all the festivals featured on the CD-Rom. Shavuot celebrates revelation—the giving of the Torah—has no distinctive artefacts other than the Torah itself.

Rites of passage

Birth - This part of the CD-Rom deals with the welcoming of new babies and the idea that Hebrew names for Jewish babies are chosen for their meaning and possibly association and not simply for the ‘way they sound’. Pupils can explore the concepts underlying a number of popular names for girls and boys. They can also make a digital card of congratulations for new Jewish parents.

Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah are rites of initiation into adult Jewish identity for males and females, respectively. Pupils can:

• digitally sequence key features of the service at which a boy celebrates becoming Bar Mitzvah
• virtually enact the Jewish  custom of pelting a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah with sweets
• explore the meaning of being an adult—from varying viewpoints—using a writing frame and word field.

Weddings - The material focuses more on wedding ceremonies than on the nature of marriage. Pupils can select photos of a real Jewish wedding and match captions, to make a photo album. They can also investigate the purpose and significance of a number of Jewish artefacts and choose one that might be appropriate as a wedding gift; then virtually buy it, wrap it, and write and attach a gift tag.

Death - There are no digital or other activities. Instead, the material features appropriate music, imagery and quotations.

 

Space

Home

It is the Jewish home that Judaism sees as the most important environment for nurturing faith and identity. Consequently this is the arena for most Jewish activity, as is clear from much that is described in the ‘Time’ section of this chapter. Thus there are copious references to home and family life in the ‘Shabbat’ and ‘Festivals’ subsections. The digital activity in ‘Home’ is to explore a virtual Jewish kitchen and identify objects that are of Jewish significance: some are not entirely obvious so, for example—along with a mezuzah; candlesticks; kiddush cups; thanksgiving after meals booklets; and hallot—there is a Jewish newspaper; a key chain with a Jewish motif; a clock with Hebrew letters; a wall calendar with Jewish pictures; and CDs of Jewish music. There is also a craft activity to create a mezuzah case and to compose a brief text to go inside it, suitable for the doorpost of a classroom or room in the pupil’s home.

Synagogue

There are two distinctive activities for exploring synagogues. One is a virtual tour of a synagogue, guided by Sarah and David. The other raises awareness of cultural diversity through a gallery of synagogues from around the world, with descriptive text for a matching activity.